Executive director of Unlimited PossAbilities works to create opportunities for those with disabilities

MILTON - Growing up, Christopher Crytzer wanted to become a doctor.

He graduated in 2003 from Hedgesville High School in Berkeley County and decided to take advantage of his PROMISE scholarship and attend Marshall University.

"I came to Marshall and took my first chemistry class and realized that (medical school) was not going to happen," he said. "I quickly realized that and changed my major to psychology and fell in love with psychology. I have a bachelor's and master's in psych."

It didn't matter that he wouldn't become a physician. What Crytzer really wanted to do was to make a difference, and he found a way. As a 32-year-old executive director of Unlimited PossAbilities in Milton, Crytzer heads a team of 65 people who spend each day trying to enhance skills, increase independence and open doors of opportunity for people with disabilities.

Unlimited PossAbilities - which opened a brand new Day Habilitation Center and office building last year along Main Street in Milton - has clients ages 5 to 65 and provides one-on-one staffing to help each reach his or her fullest potential.

Whether it's helping clients learn to tie their shoes, teaching positive social behaviors or assisting them with a part-time job, the agency caters to each person's individual needs, celebrating each victory - big or small - and improving the quality of life for not only clients, but their families.

"When staff come in for interviews, I tell them this job allows us to give clients opportunities that they wouldn't have every day," Crytzer said. "If we do not provide these services, they may not get to get out. They may have to sit at home, and mom or dad may have to quit their job to stay home with them. We're giving the family the opportunity to still work."

Some clients utilize the day program center in Milton, where they can learn functional academics and improve their social, fine motor, gross motor and pre-vocational skills. They have field trips as well, to places such as the Clay Center museum or a local theater production.

In other cases, a staff member may go to a client's home and not only provide skilled nursing care for the client but teach skills, giving family members a chance to go to work or have respite. Other staff members go to the client's worksite for support during his or her shift.

Staff members use positive behavior support techniques.

"We focus on trying to teach our clients to be as independent as possible. We create a plan based on their abilities," Crytzer said. "We have our behavior support professionals go in and do various assessments with them to see what we can work on and what deficits we can strengthen, and then we sit down as a team and talk about everything that we've seen through our assessments and individualize everything to the member. ... That's one thing that's neat about our program, is that it's individualized. It's not one template for everybody."

Though he leads 65 employees today, Crytzer started in 2012 with just two people, himself and Sarah Gensler Bell, the chief operations officer for the agency. They had both worked for other agencies in the area and decided to open one of their own, pulling their favorite ideas and philosophies from each.

They started with a small office just down U.S. 60 from where their business is located today. Crytzer said he wanted to set up shop far enough away from other agencies that it wouldn't step on toes too much, though Unlimited PossAbilities does serve people from a broad area - Cabell, Wayne, Putnam, Lincoln, Mason, Kanawha and Boone counties.

When he and his wife, Mary, were looking for an office, they spotted an empty, unfinished building with a dirt floor. It was owned by Scott Wheeler, who fixed it up quickly in 2012 and became their go-to developer. He then built their new facilities last year.

Crytzer, father to four children ages 4 and younger, is thrilled to be serving so many families throughout the area. Clients are eligible for services through the Medicaid IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) Waiver Program. He only hopes the statewide program's budget is preserved so that more families can be served. More than 1,000 are on a waiting list in the state, Crytzer said.

That's a big deal for clients who need services, particularly those who no longer have help available through their local school system. Some clients who have been able to benefit from a structured setting and educational offerings for their first 18 to 21 years suffer dramatic setbacks when they finish school and have no services available.

Structured care and positive behavior support can change lives, Crytzer said.

"I've seen (clients who have had) a huge change in their quality of life," he said. "... We love what we do here. We have a great time. We enjoy celebrating little steps that members make. ... This field is really exciting and is different from day to day."

For more information, visit www.upwv.org or call 304-743-8160.

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